McBean was one of the most prominent portrait photographers of the
20th century, with a career that was both imaginative andever-evolving.
Many of his black and white portraits feature cinema greats, such as Mae West, Marlene Dietrich, the elfin Audrey Hepburn and the notoriously racy Vivien Leigh, with their iconic, sharply-cut cheekbones and sculpted lips. McBean, through his intimate and glamourous shoots, set many young women on their way to glittering careers.
McBean’s own career began with his Surrealist portraits of the 1930s, which reveal, even at this early stage, the depth of his creativity and jouissance. Dorothy Dickson’s face suspended between two lily pads in a fishpond, and Robertson Hare and Alfred Drayton’s heads surrounded by three ostrich eggs are just two examples from this set.
Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, McBean continued to capture theatre actors and actresses in statuesque or unusual poses. By the 1960s, he switched to taking images of music stars for record sleeves, such as The Beatles, Shirley Bassey and Matt Monro. In the flamboyant 1980s, his work was rediscovered, and he produced quirky shots, such as the designer Jean-Paul Gaultier wearing, ironically, no clothes, with a frog perched on his shoulder.
When asked why people love having their portraits taken, McBean replied: “It’s simple. They want to be beautiful.” This inspiring collection proves that he fulfilled this desire.
